[Episode 4] Joy and HR - Lessons for Creating an Intentionally Joyful Culture

Hi, Rich.

Thank you for coming back onto our podcast, our Agile Tales, to continue our discussion.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Great to be back.

Let's look at Mellow Innovations.

You created something called high-tech anthropology.

Can you tell us more what it is and why you felt it was important?

So this goes to the heart of our purpose.

I think generally every company, when they think about their purpose, should be able to ask and answer two simple questions.

Who do you serve and what would Delight look like for them? Early on at Menlo, we chose a big mission to end human suffering in the world as it relates to technology.

The primary focus of that mission were the end users of the software that we are going to design and develop.

Most people tolerate software.

They learn to get along with it.

They typically hate it.

They wonder why it works that way.

It's hard to learn how to use it.

It's hard to understand how to use it for my specific purpose.

And our belief was it just doesn't have to be that way.

You shouldn't need user manuals.

You shouldn't need help text.

You shouldn't need training classes to use a piece of software.

But what it requires is a different approach to software design.

And that was really the essence of high tech anthropology is much like the lean community talks about go to the Gemba.

you know, put yourself in a Gemba circle and observe.

Hi, Rich.

Thank you for coming back onto our podcast, our Agile Tales, to continue our discussion.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Great to be back.

Let's look at Mellow Innovations.

You created something called high-tech anthropology.

Can you tell us more what it is and why you felt it was important?

So this goes to the heart of our purpose.

I think generally every company, when they think about their purpose, should be able to ask and answer two simple questions.

Who do you serve and what would Delight look like for them? Early on at Menlo, we chose a big mission to end human suffering in the world as it relates to technology.

The primary focus of that mission were the end users of the software that we are going to design and develop.

Most people tolerate software.

They learn to get along with it.

They typically hate it.

They wonder why it works that way.

It's hard to learn how to use it.

It's hard to understand how to use it for my specific purpose.

And our belief was it just doesn't have to be that way.

You shouldn't need user manuals.

You shouldn't need help text.

You shouldn't need training classes to use a piece of software.

But what it requires is a different approach to software design.

And that was really the essence of high tech anthropology is much like the lean community talks about go to the Gemba.

you know, put yourself in a Gemba circle and observe.